After his successful first date, Marty faces criticism from both his mother and Angie. His mother prefers an uneducated Italian-American that she can manipulate. Angie thinks Marty should have a woman he can seduce, or at least party with. Marty has his star turn: should he continue to see his new soul mate, or should he please his inner circle and dump her?
How I felt about it. The low-budget Marty greatly impressed critics in 1955. Imagine, a film that concentrates on story, script, and characters, instead of the usual star vehicle targeted to specific markets through genre. A film with realistic dialogue and adult (in this context, not a code word for pornographic or violent) themes.
Such films were as scarce in 1955 as they are today. A more typical film from 1955 is The Seven-Year Itch, which romantically pairs the bombshell Marilyn Monroe with a somewhat dorky man that has little chance of scoring with her outside of a screenplay.
Marty was also unusual for its choice of lead. Ernest Borgnine, best known as a supporting actor playing bullies and loudmouths, is not only the star here, but it is a romantic role. And he's surprisingly convincing in it.
Of course, his cause is aided by Paddy Chayefsky's insightful screenplay, which brings to life the culture of blue collar New York City Italian-Americans. Family is important, but self interest overcomes family, despite the guilt one feels afterward. To save his marriage and his sanity, Marty's cousin Tommy has to evict his own mother. Marty also begins the process of replacing his mother with Clara. He'll feel guilty too, but he won't be crushed by loneliness.
Where does this leave Marty's mother and Aunt Catherine? Will they end up living together in a small apartment, with the rent split by Tommy and Marty? Their time has past, and they know it. But they are unwilling to do anything about it, and will likely continue to try to hover over their grown sons.
It would have been courageous for Marty to actually cast an unattractive (i.e. plump) woman for the role of Clara. Instead, we get a moderately attractive girl who seems undeserving of all the ill treatment she has received over the years from unreflective men.
Marty is unusual for its level of understanding of both men and women, but there is some simplification. The men are rather shallow creatures, still looking to score with "tomatoes" instead of finding the ideal wife. Chayefsky manages to emphasize this point and at the same time ridicule his fellow writer, Mickey Spillane. Chayefsky was undoubtedly jealous of Spillane's commercial success at writing lurid, derivative detective stories featuring an ultra-cool hero and the numerous troublesome dames that fall all over him. I suspect Spillane had the nicer house and car, but Chayefsky received something that Spillane couldn't buy: an Oscar.